Playing under the best conditions

Clark soars as birdies flock to TPC Boston

Mike Weir relinquished the driver's seat at the Deutsche Bank Championship, despite shooting a 3-under-par 68. (Travis dove/for the globe)

NORTON - Given that he probably has had to have his clubs shipped out to be sand-blasted from high-rough setups at his last two tournaments, Heath Slocum is OK with the stage for this week's Deutsche Bank Championship.

"I like variety," said Slocum.

Apparently, his colleagues aren't averse to it, either, because, for a second straight day, the PGA Tour's showcase talent took advantage of optimum scoring conditions to blitz TPC Boston and throw down record numbers. Whereas Mike Weir led the charge with a course-tying 10-under-par 61 Friday, Tim Clark took the baton in yesterday's second round.

The quiet South African flirted with a 59 before settling for a 62 to get in at 14-under 128, by three the lowest 36-hole score in the tournament's six-year history, and by one better than Weir, who backed up his opening act with a solid 68.

It was scintillating stuff because it featured a mere 30 shots on Clark's outward nine - and that was before the fireworks. When he turned his attention to the front, Clark birdied the first and eagled both the par-5 second and par-4 fourth. Two eagles within a half-hour? Dramatic stuff, but not out of the ordinary. After all, it's the 23d time that has happened this year.

Twenty-three times? Hey, these guys are good.

And they're also thankful to be free, for at least one week, of the demanding rough that beat them up at Oakland Hills three weeks ago at the PGA Championship (3 under won) and even last week when The Barclays (8 under) was held at Ridgewood CC in New Jersey.

"It's nice to see some under-par rounds on Tour," said Clark.

He was 11 under on his round through 16 holes and needed to birdie one of the last two holes to shoot 59. Instead, he finished bogey-bogey, though hardly were his spirits deflated.

"I think we certainly get tired of shooting over par."

He was speaking for the large part of his fellow members, though surprisingly on a day when the field average (68.473) dropped lower than what it had been Friday (69.157), some did struggle - though not many. When the cut fell at 3-under 139, 86 of 115 players had made the cut, and only 14 players were over par yesterday.

A genuine, old-fashioned birdie festival is what it was. No two ways around that, not after a day that produced 24 eagles - including eight at the fourth - and 492 birdies, but the joy of it is, the two guys out front aren't exactly the type to demand such a landscape.

"Here and there I've done OK," said Weir, when asked if he fared well with these sort of shootouts. "[But] it's not my favorite."

Said Clark: "In the past, I thought [TPC Boston] was actually a little bit too long for me."

Ah, but length is best negotiated when the wind sits down (check), the greens are receptive (check), and rough is kept to a minimum (check). Three checks equals lots of smiles, but no matter what sort of golf is your preference - shootouts or hack-outs - there's no denying that the Deutsche Bank Championship has once again put the star attractions in front.

That's because while Clark is being chased closely by Weir, there exists a bevy of heavyweights keeping close tabs. Vijay Singh birdied three of his final four holes to shoot 66 and settle in at 12-under 130, tied with Ben Curtis (65), while Sergio Garcia (64) recovered from a wild second shot into the par-5 18th to make birdie and get to 11 under, sharing fifth with Ernie Els (65), Jim Furyk (65), and Kevin Streelman (65), the feel-good story of this FedEx Cup playoff season.

Mired on the minitours the last few years, Streelman got his PGA Tour card via Q-School last fall, and while he has made occasional appearances on leaderboards this year, mostly he's been lost in the middle of the pack. Until June, that is, because with a torrid stretch of golf, Streelman is 78 under since mid-June, and he's squeezed in among an impressive array of stars.

"It feels good," he said, as if you might have expected him to say otherwise. "If I can shoot another 4 or 5 or 6 under each day, I'll have a good chance at the end of the day."

Although that may seem a bit of a stretch, it might not be a bad assessment. After all, "the scores, I think, are only going to stay low," said Clark, who started the day five strokes back and ended it one in front.

Most seem to think that's a good thing, and certainly it has made for a jammed leaderboard. Whereas Clark did burn it up, he needn't look far to see sterling competition and there's the fact that 21 players will start today within five of his lead, one of them being Slocum, another short hitter who fired 68 to get in at 10-under 132, tied with Anthony Kim (66), John Merrick (68), and Steve Marino (66). He missed the cut at The Barclays and the PGA Championship, weeks in which he had worn down his wedge with hack-outs, so yes, he's in favor of what the PGA Tour has put forth this week.

"I like some weeks where scoring par is a premium. I also like weeks where you can fire at some pins and shoot some good numbers," said Slocum. "It gets boring if you're shooting 20 under every week and it gets boring if you're shooting 8 under every week. It's why we play so many different golf courses a year. I know a lot of the players have [said], 'Let's mix it up. Let's have a variety.' "

With this week's variety, of course, being on the softer side, even Clark insisted, "this course certainly isn't easy."

It only appears that way.